This is a revised version of a paper presented at the UNI-Rokkan seminar in Paris 18–20 March 2010 and the 2010 IRSPM Conference held in Bern, Switzerland 7–9. April. Panel on: Working Across Boundaries: Barriers, Enablers, Tensions and Puzzles.

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In this paper we address the problems of working across boundaries in central
government by focusing on the case of Norway. The main research questions are: a)
How common is the use of working or project groups inside the ministries, across
ministries, and between ministries and central agencies? b) What changes have there
been over time in the use of such cross-border collegial bodies? c) To what extent does participation in cross-boundary activities vary according to individual and organizational features? d) What is the relationship between participation in working and project groups and attitudes towards coordination? The main theoretical approach to explain variation in collegial participation and its effects will be a structural/instrumental perspective and a demographic perspective. We apply a multi-level analysis examining the effects of both individual features and organizational features of the ministries as a whole.